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From Seed To Sale

Plant Raising

Our seedling suppliers are Fentongollan Farm which covers 2000 acres of prime agricultural land in the south west of Cornwall on and around the beautiful Tregothnan Estate and the Roseland Peninsula, where the Hosking family has farmed as tenants of Lord Falmouth for 125 years.

Plant Raising

In a highly automated process as shown in the video clip to the right, selected seeds are planted in a peat-based growing medium in standardised seed trays.

Plant Raising

Riviera Produce selects only the finest varieties and works closely with the team at Fentongollan throughout a year long growing season.

Plant Raising

In this video clip we see the seed trays planted and rolling off the automatic seeders ready for transport to the growing tunnels.

Plant Raising

The seedlings start to develop not long after planting but require some tender care before they are ready to be shipped to the growing fields of Riviera Produce.

Plant Raising

They are raised in plastic tunnels before hardening off in their outdoor yards ready for planting in the fields 7 weeks after sowing.

The seed trays are now ready for transportation to Riviera Produce and onto planting!

Plant Raising

Seeds are sown at our local plant raisers ‘Fentongollan Farm’ who raise over 60 million plants for us each year. They are raised in plastic tunnels before hardening off in their outdoor yards ready for planting in the fields 7 weeks after sowing

5 Pictures of the plant raising

Planting

Each of our 500 fields has the soil tested for nutrients and acidity to ensure our crops are fed with exactly what they require to achieve the best crops possible. Each field is ploughed and cultivated to give each plant optimum growing conditions. Plants are then planted using our semi autiomatic planters which place the module just under the soil at equal distances apart, which vary according to the variety and time of the year we are planting.

5 pictures of ploughing, cultivating and planting

Growing our crops

Each of our fields is walked every week by our crop agronomist to ensure that our crops are growing as they should be. We monitor our crops for pest and diseases by using weather data and pest traps to predict if we are likely to have any problems. If found crops are treated quickly with the minimum amount of pesticide required to ensure we have clean crops. All chemicals have been rigorously tested over many years to ensure they are safe to use, crops are then tested before harvest to ensure no residues remain and crops are safe to eat

3 pictures of crops at various stages of growth

Harvesting our crops

Crops grow according to the temperatures and rainfall we receive each day. Cornwall is surrounded on 3 sides by the sea which gives us a maritime climate, cooler summers and warmer winters, perfect for growing brassicas. When our crops have reached the required size we send in our trained teams of harvesting staff to select what our customers require to meet their product specifications. Our staff start early in the morning at day break, when crops are at their best, and transport to our coldstores as quickly as possible to ensure our produce stays fresh. Field heat is then removed and crops are checked by our quality controllers to ensure our customers receive exactly what they want.

5 pictures of harvesting?

Despatch

Our customers place their orders with us every day of the year, and we then select what they require in their packaging before despatch each day on our refridgerated vehicles. We supply our products nationwide each day, giving our customers a taste of Cornwall within 24 hours from harvest